Freedman

Freedman, former slave set free. In ancient Athens, former slaves bore no stigma, and some rose to positions of political or economic power. During the later Hellenistic period, however, some Greekcommunities passed laws providing separate regulations and restrictions for former slaves. To the Greeks citizenship was a hereditary privilege and thus barred to freedmen, but under Roman law a manumitted slave might become a citizen if the proper legal form was followed, although he did not enjoy full civic rights. In Carolingian times the descendants of a freedman could claim the rights of the freeborn only after three generations had passed.